A number of school heads from Gesima zone in Nyamira County have challenged the government to increase the number of teachers in their respective institutions, saying they are greatly understaffed.
Led by Nyakongo Primary School headtecher Charles Getuno during a fundraising ceremony on Tuesday, the teachers complained of understaffing of about 50 teachers in the entire zone, and challenged TSC to act fast to solve the impending crisis.
They said the shortage was compelling them to use limited resources to employ untrained teachers, who later on quit the job to advance their studies.
“We are seriously understaffed in our zone and we have raised this issue a number of times without any response. We cannot be able to compete favourably if we continue handling a large population of students with few teachers. We are using untrained teachers because our institutions are operating on limited resources,” he said.
They gave the government till September, when schools reopen, to solve the issue or present their grievances officially to the parents.
“Parents have powers to demand quality education, and the government has a responsibility to fill the void before the schools open. We will only present a petition to the parents for them to face the government,” he added.
Area Education Officer Robert Obiria termed the request ‘urgent’ and promised to solve the issue before the schools reopen.